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Saturday, July 30, 2011

This was pretty much how I felt at the end. My husband and I had ran ahead of the rest of our team. Nice I know, but I wanted to run it with him and he wanted to run it and feel like he was pushing it. He did AWESOME! He doesn't run very often and I don't think he has run for about a month at least, but he did AWESOME. I think he should run with me more often.

So the bad news here is that I deleted all the pictures on my camera. Ugh, so these were sent to me from a friend at the finish line. My Mom was so wonderful to come in today and watch the kids while we ran and she took a lot of great pictures. Gone. I am so sad about that :( Especially the great ones of me and Rance.

Can you see the mud in my ear? I gave up on my sunglasses and just ran with them on top of my head after the first mile. My legs felt so dead today after my 12 mile run yesterday. So while Rance was bounding over obstacles I was climbing over them. We made a great team though and passed a lot of people.

Someone told me I wasn't dirty enough so i jumped in here. Where is my husband? He already finished! I was all by myself here! So much for team..lol

My kids threw water balloons at me by the finish line and thought that was pretty neat. They were also excited that they got mud on them too. I will do a better recap tomorrow, but right now I am too sad about losing all my awesome pictures. Ugh. There is no undo button for deleting them off the SD card before they are on the computer.

But it was a BLAST! I recommend it and so does my husband! One of the best things about it for me was getting to do it with Rance, even if he didn't wait for me at the end :) We went home showered, cleaned up the kids and then I took a nice big nap.

Hopefully I will be able to scrounge up some better photos and pictures of my team! really I did not run all by myself.

So if you get out your September issue of Runner's World and turn to page 116, the featured race of the month is the Montana Governor's Cup and in the picture is little ol me! I am right behind the sunflowers in a hat sunglasses and a blue shirt, with my hair flying out behind me. I have cut my hair off since then. This was not far from the start of the race. My co worker Carla is also in the picture in a long sleeve blue shirt number 2330 also with a hat on. Another runner friend from work called me Thursday night to tell me the news. I was so excited! Sorry for the crappy picture, if you want to see it better, well you know where to look now!

This is a really great route to PR on for a half marathon. It starts on a downhill and there is never more than a slight uphill, the whole route seems to be flat or slightly downhill. The marathon route has some pretty good hills between miles 5 and 13 though. I ran that leg in the marathon relay one year, it was pretty brutal. I was toying with doing the full marathon this year, but have decided to give up on that for this year due to a number of factors. I am okay with this and am thinking about next year.

I finally got in a long run yesterday. I did 12 miles and it felt pretty good except the elevation changes from miles 5 to 9, check it out! It felt like it was sucking the life out of me. It felt good to turn around and finish downhill.

Dirty Dash 5k later this morning. We are in the 9:40 wave. and here is some big news! I talked my husband into doing it with me. I am so excited to get to do this with him. Yay!!! My friend Becky who is on my team picked up all the team packets Thursday night so I went and got mine, my husbands, my sisters and my cousins. The T-shirts inside were very random. My sister got a cute women's small and mine is like a child''s large or something. No cute v-neck. I am not impressed. I am going to see if they will trade it for a women's one today. My Mom is going to take my kids in to watch and take pictures. I am so excited for everyone to be there. My team isn't doing it to win just for fun. We are all wearing pink shirts, which my husband is not overally thrilled with but he is being a good sport! Hopefully I will have lots of great pictures to post later.

I took my kids in to see Cars 2 yesterday. It was pretty cute but it seemed really long! They could have cut about half an hour off and I would have been happier not to mention the half an hour of previews. My daughter was so over it by the end.

Oh yeah I just noticed I passed over the 200 followers mark. Cool. thanks to all who follow and read what I write. My Hippie Runner 4Head band giveaway ends tomorrow so enter HERE if you haven't already :)

I would love to hear any tips on how to get mud soaked clothes clean from a mud run!
Anyone else annoyed by all the previews at the movies?

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Yesterday I got floated to another department, one I have been to several times now so I know the routine and luckily they weren't that busy. It is a rehab type department in the clinic side. The exam rooms are kind of small compared to what I am used to and are stuffy. I went and got a patient yesterday and was "rooming" him for the doctor which was all good and fine except the man smelled so bad I had to leave the room before I was done putting all the info in the computer. He was nice, funny, and didn't look like he should smell. He seemed well groomed and the clothes looked clean, but gag me. I felt really bad for him and really glad I didn't have to stay in there any longer than I did. We couldn't go in the room for nearly an hour after he left. Do stinky people not realize how stinky they are? I know when I stink. I can smell me. It seriously was when of the worst people smells I have ever encountered and i have smelled a lot in my ten years of being an operating room nurse.

I got off a little early so I decided to try to run as it felt really nice out. I put on my shoes and my gear and ran one mile and thought this isn't so bad, it isn't that bad, it's not that hot. I feel good I could do this all day. Then I got to two miles and realized I had angered the sun by thinking that because suddenly I was so freaking HOT! So I returned home, but made sure I did an even three miles. I couldn't believe how sweaty I was.

And I was right it did get hotter while I was running! When I left it was only 77 and when I got back it was 85 degrees! It felt good to get it in and my legs were feeling pretty good despite the heat I did it in 25 minutes and discovered that it would take me about 8 loops around my driveway to do one mile.

If you haven"t already check out my Hippie Runner 4Head band giveaway HERE

Happy Thursday it is off to work for me. Kids last day of swim lessons YAY! Sorry to be so lame and have no pictures today :( I promise to do better tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

This post was done somewhere between running, gardening, canning peaches, and taking kids to swim lessons so hopefully it is coherent. One of these days I will catch up on everyone else's blogs but it is summer and busy! The legs are still feeling tired since the half marathon last weekend. I just feel slow and tired. Ugh waiting for my legs to feel not heavy, hopefully soon! I did join the world of Twitter! Feel free to follow me I am still trying to figure out everyone who tweets and find them.

The people over at Hippie Runner were super groovy and sent me a fun assortment of their products to try out and review and there is something in it for you too! I did not pick out what they sent me so it was fun to open the package and see what was inside. One funtastic running skirt! My first though when I saw it was really? They have all those fun crazy patterns and they sent me this one? The longer I have it the more I love it though. It is different from every skirt I own with the fun dots pattern and the grey and white will make it easy to match to bright colored shirts like this pink one I got at Goodwill for $3!

Of course there is always the big question... what is under the skirt? Shorts! This skirt and shorts are longer than a lot of running skirts I own, but I did like the length and it would be great for a more modest person also who wants to cover up a little more. The shorts are actually a little longer than this, but they rode up a little and now that I notice it I am too lazy to take another picture and the battery on my camera is dead anyway! The shorts are comfy though and I didn't feel like I was always having to pull them down. I ran 6 miles in them, then gardened in them and still don't hate them.. a good sign!

Check out the website HERE. What do you think are the skirt patterns funtastic or what? The skirts are soft and stretchy and the shorts have a four inch inseam. I ordered a small and it fits just about right, maybe slightly large.

FUNTASTIC!

They also sent me a Groovy expandable gear belt. I loved the bright red with metallic silver. I like that it has two pockets. A smaller one that is great for putting in keys and or cash and a larger one prefect for my camera or my phone, sadly not both. Putting both in made it too bulky. It does have 4 loops to hold gels in. I ran with two in today and they stayed put and so did the belt. It was comfy to run and I like that you can attach your race tag to it also. The skirt and belt go great together. The skirt has no pockets but if you have the belt you don't need pockets.

Here you can see the two pockets and the loops. I was wearing them in the back, but they also ride comfortably up front. The belt is adjustable and comes in a lot of really fun patterns.

They also sent me three of their 4Head bands. Here is what you can win!

or this one! Are you feeling groovy or badass?

You have to of course be a follower to enter and here are all the ways you can enter to win. Leave me a comment for each one you do. Thanks ends 7-31

1. Like the Hippie Runner on Facebook HERE
2. Check out their website HERE and tell me what you like
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet this giveaway
4. Post this giveaway on your blog, and or facebook!
5. Tell me what you think of these things!

Monday, July 25, 2011

okay so I think I am getting the twitter thing figured out a little. Check out the follow button on the sidebar! So if you want to follow go ahead and click! I am trying to find all of you and follow also. So it seems a little like facebook but different.

I am feeling better today, unfortunalty I have to go to work today, so I probably won't run today, also the kids have swim lessons tonight.

I was surfing the web and found this article on running faster. It had some things in it I had not heard before so I thought I would share some highlights from it and of course my own input :)

Hill Running

To build speed, run up and down hills. By running up hills, you will build the strength and power needed to be explosive in your running and it will allow you to draw on your reserves when you need to hit your fastest gear. Running down the hill will help you work on your technique and your balance.

I have a great hill for running up and down close to my house. I often sprint to the bottom and then work my way back up it in intervals. Makes for tired legs!

Box Jumping

Place a 15-inch box on the floor. Stand to the left of the box and jump over it so you are on the right side. Jump back over it so you are in the same position you were at the start. Do this 10 times, take a 30-second break and repeat the drill. This exercise will build up the explosive muscles in your calves.

I have found that doing high knees while jumping rope can also give me big calf muscles, but I think I will give this a try too and hopefully not end up crashing to the floor. I would think anything would work to jump over if you don't just have a 15 inch box sitting around the house.

Interval Sprinting

Running interval sprints will help you build your sprinting technique, your speed and your endurance. Go to the local track and sprint 100 yards. Follow that with sprints of 80, 60 and 50 yards. Run each sprint as fast as you can without taking any break between the races. Take a two-minute break and repeat your sprints.

I can't think of the last time I did intervals of less than 200 meters. I think this could be fun and helpful for the shorter distances. I do love 5ks! I think I will try this later this week.

Parachute Training

Resistance running by attaching a parachute to your back as you run will help you build explosive strength in your glutes, hamstrings and calves. This will help you sprint faster. Line up to run a 100-yard dash with a running chute attached to your back. You wear it the same way you wear a back pack. As the chute unfurls while you are running, you will feel a significant pulling. Do not turn around to look at it and do not slow down. Sprint the full distance. After the race, turn around and prepare to run another 100 yards. When you reach the 50-yard mark, hit the release button on your harness. This will cause the chute to drop off and you will get a surge of speed.

Just curious if anyone has ever done parachute training? Sounds like something more for a track and field type athlete, not to mention where would you get a parachute anyway? I think if I started running around like that people would start to wonder about me! Could be fun though. I bet I won't try it anytime soon.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

I have officially spent more of the day laying around feeling like a pile of crap. I ran 2.37 miles this morning and knew it just wasn't going to happen. I came home and went back to bed for four more hours, got up for two and was back down for two. What a wasted day. I hate not feeling in top form. Bleh.

On a side note. I joined Twitter and I can't help but feeling like...Now what? Can anyone tell me how to get a link on my blog to twitter to if people want to follow me they can? How is Twitter helpful? How do you use twitter? Anyone?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Typical U.S. Female Runner: Ever wonder how you compare? I can't say as though I really did but here is how I do. This is the typical "core" runner. Core runners are active adult participants who tend to enter running events, train year-round, and purchase 2-4 running shoes each year.

Demographics:

Average Age: 38.5 I'm younger

63.2% Married Yes

78.2% College educated Yes

70.3% Earn a household income of $75,000+ Nobody's business!

Running History:

Average number of years running: 9.9 years I have been running for? At least since high school.

Average number of running events participated in during the last 12 months: 7.2 events I have done 11!

51.8% have completed 1 marathon or more in their lifetime Not yet, but I hope to someday!

Running Routine:

70.4% Run/Jog 4+ hours each week 4 to 6 hours a week is probably right

77.7% run 12 months a year Yes

Average number of days run per week: 4.0 Yes

Average number of miles run per week: 21.9 20 in the winter closer to 30 in the warmer months

66.1% describe themselves as ‘Frequent/Fitness Runners’ Sure

Running Preferences:

Favorite race distance is the Half-Marathon (39.0%) Hmmm I love 5k's more I think

Friday, July 22, 2011

I got this in the mail today! Yay! I won them over at average girl doing average things.
I have never owned sunglasses that have their very own case. I am feeling pretty uptown. So fun to win things and then get them in the mail!

I had a great day today at work and these were like the icing on the cake. They feel comfy, I can't wait to run in them tomorrow.

Yesterday I got this stuff in the mail from Hippie Runner. There will be a review and a giveaway coming up! Can't wait to try this stuff out tomorrow also. It is like Christmas around here.

The skyline when I started my run this morning at 4:50 am. I did a quick three miles before work.

Here is my medal from the half marathon last weekend. I meant to post this earlier but kept forgetting! I think it is my favorite medal so far.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I hadn't run since the half marathon last weekend so it felt good to get out and stretch my legs today. I ran by several wheat fields and was amazed at how much they have changed lately. The growing fields of green are turning into amber waves of grain. I did six miles with a negative split. Nine minute pace out and 8:30 pace coming back. My legs are feeling a little tight and a little stiff still, so stretching is in order today.

Can you say bread, pasta, and cake, yay for wheat!

After the run I grabbed the kids and we went and picked peas for an hour. Now I get to shell the little buggers. I think I have already eaten a pint of them they are so good fresh right out of the pod. The kids did really great helping for about 45 minutes and then they were pretty much over it.

I had a guest post on Gourmet Runner yesterday. I posted about my favorite form of cross training. BodyRock.tv. Check it out here if you want! Several people have asked about what I do for my sandbag. I took an old bag I had and filled it with rice in 5 and 10 pound bags. This makes is easy to adjust the weight of the bag for different exercises. Too light add 5, too heavy take out 10. It isn't the perfect solution but it has worked really great for me. I know of other bodyrockers who have used backpacks for the sandbag.

Here is what mine looks like. Nothing fancy with some duct tape to help make it a little more comapact, but I can still get the zipper open to adjust the weight if I need to. I find that usually between twenty and thirty pounds works great for me.

You want to be able to rest it comfortably on your shoulders on each side. I have some hat head going on here so ignore the crazy hair. :)

and put it across the back of your shoulders

and lift if over your head. As well as being able to lift it for dead lifts and cradle it in your arms in front of you. If you can do all these things with it, it should work for all the things they do in BodyRock.tv workouts.

On a side note, the cotton is flying off the cotton trees, in some areas it looks like it has snowed!

Kind of pretty and I am so glad I am not allergic to it! Especially since it is all over my garden and I seem to get quite a lot of it in the lettuce when I bring it home.

I scared a jack rabbit out of the wheat field and he ran out into the stubble field, not a smart move I thought. Of course it didn't matter there was no way I was going to catch him. By the time I got my camera out of my SPIbelt he was pretty far away. Do you see him? They aren't really that common here. We have a lot of wild cotton tail type rabbits hopping around, but not so much these. They look so funny in comparison.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

These first 5 pictures are from the Heart and Sole 10k I ran over a month ago. I just forgot they would be posted on line. I also discovered that I was not really 2nd in my age group, I WON my age group. The bibs were messed up on the girl who won and another girl who really was behind me by 15 minutes. When they finally straightened out the whole mess they never told us. So I have somebody else's 2nd place medal and someone has my first place medal. I am going to see if I can get that all corrected. I think I look pretty tired in this picture. Probably is the case. It was one of those days that I just didn't feel "on". It seemed like the whole race was more work than it should have been. Do you have races or even workouts like that? I know I do!

Apparently I also run with my mouth open a lot. Maybe that explains why I feel like I am always eating a bug.

I thought this picture was pretty funny. I was already done with the race. I have a popsicle and my camera in my hands. Note also that I am smiling. Yay I am done. I survived my first 10k. I had gone back to run in with my sister. I think that was like my third popsicle.

Totally hamming it up here for the photographer. I was feeling great, so happy to be running and this was definitely an "on" day. These next three are from the State Games Half Marathon I ran Saturday. They were posted today.
My shoes are Saucony Fastwitch 4′s they are awesome and fast!

Check out my thumbs they are wanting to give the photographer a thumbs up for every picture! Cheesy! and I love that I am smiling in every picture.

Here is the start, not really sure that I see me, but maybe am standing behind the guy in the white shirt and blue shorts second row in on the left. Do you see some red hair right over his head? Might be me. It was a pretty narrow start, but since there were only 63 of us it wasn't too bad and it thinned out pretty quick.

Coming in at the end. Hot. Tired. Glad to be done. And a new PR! and I am quite a heel striker, more so than I thought. I have never really paid attention to that before, maybe I will start working on my form. I wasn't sure if I would like racing in my hydration belt, but I did. For the most part I didn't even notice it was there. It was so nice to have the Nuun to wash down my chomps or have a blast of whenever I felt like it. Especially with as hot as it was outside!

Do you like my blue sparkle headband from Active Bands? I do! I was chatting it up with Tiki here, she ran the 10k and was back after taking time off for a broken toe. We look like we could be getting ready for a Nike ad or something. Speaking of Nike! I won Nike sunglasses over at Average Girl Doing Average Things and a RazzyRoo headband from Pink Hat Runner so what a great way to celebrate my PR on the half :)

I think I will have some more pictures coming, but I wanted to get these up.

Does your state have a State Games?

Have you ever participated?

I have shot skeet in them before also. They have so many events you can compete in. The girl who won the half marathon also got second in the 5k the night before, 2nd in the triathlon the next day and won the biathlon. AMAZING! I also forget to mention in my race recap that they had Jackie Joyner Kersey at the opening ceremonies. I really wanted to go. She was one of my heroes back in the day, but I had a birthday party for my nephew to go to, so I skipped it.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

It is off to work for me today after a nice four day weekend. The kids are back in swimming lessons this week so it will be a busy week between work and driving back and forth into town for swim lessons. Tomorrow will be my first run since the half marathon Saturday. I am feeling so ready to run. I should have got my butt out of bed a little earlier and gone this morning, but I think one more day of rest won't hurt either. I can feel the call of the open road though and it makes my legs feel itchy to get moving.

You know you want to run!

I found these fun facts at lululemon, thought you all might like to read them too!

Fun Running Facts...Did you know!?!

Physically active people have a 60 percent lower risk for Alzheimer's disease than coach potatoes (The Lancet Neurology - Sweden)

Athletes dressed in red are more likely to win events than athletes wearing another color. (Nature)

There are 26 combined bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles in the human foot (Nike Ad)

In terms of on-site media coverage, the Boston Marathon ranks behind only the Super Bowl as the largest single day sporting event in the world. More than 1,100 media members, representing more than 250 outlets, are expected to request and receive media credentials in 2006. (Boston Athletic Association)

An average man has enough energy in his fat stores to run non-stop for 3 days at 15 miles per hour. (bbc.co.uk)

12 of the world's top-20 distance runners are members of the Kalenjin tribe of northwest Kenya. (bbc.co.uk)

Runners report average yearly injury rates from 24% to 68%, of which 2% to 11% involve the hip or pelvis - (van Mechelen, W. in "Running injuries: a review of the epidemiological literature")

13.2 to 17.3 percent of all running injuries have been attributed to shin splints (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons)

The risk of having a heart attack during a marathon is one in 55,000. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology)

Runners who played ball sports (ie football) as kids had nearly 50 percent fewer stress fractures than runner who didn't. Stanford University researchers found that runners who played ball aports had "greater and more symmetrically distributed bone mass." (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine)

Monday, July 18, 2011

I went out to dinner last night with some friends from high school. Hard to believe we have been out of high school for 15 years now. Doesn't seem like that long. I had a great time, it was nice to get to have lots of time to visit with friends without the kids interrupting all the time. They were home with their Dad! It was also nice to get home and see their happy little faces waiting for me. :)

I meant to have this done yesterday, but life got busy. So without further delay the winner of the Handful Bra giveaway is...

Who turns out to be ....

Stephanie's blog is Run for Fun. Head over there and check out her dance party on the elliptical. Congrats Stephanie now you can have the pink bra ! Yay!

Don't despair if you didn't win. Handful bras are still 25% off if you buy two for the rest of July with the promo code SUMMER11. That makes them only $30 each! They are also having a contest and giving a bra away a month. Check out their FB page for more info.

I haven't run since the Half Marathon Saturday, but I am about to hop on the elliptical and gives the legs a little workout and I did the 600 Rep Fat Burner Workout this morning from BodyRock.tv, which left me a sweaty mess. I will resume running on Wednesday.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Yoohoo! To think a week ago I was sitting in the car crying with my left knee swollen, pretty sure I was not going to be running or even getting a PR today on the Big Sky State Games half marathon!
I got up before the alarm went off this morning and fixed a bowl of oatmeal, peanut butter and chia seeds, drank a cup of coffee and 20 oz of water. I read a few blogs then got dressed and headed out.

I picked up my race bib right when they set up, then headed to the porta potties. I spent a few minutes chatting with some girls then headed out on a warm up run and did a few stretches. Waffled between wearing my heavier, cushier more suppotive Asics Kayanos and my lighter, less cushy less supportive Saucony Fasttwitch shoes. Decided to go with light and fast. It was a decision I didn't regret. I just hadn't worn them on anything longer than a 10k yet.

With about ten minutes to go before the start I headed over to the start with Sarah Graves, who I knew was going to beat me without question. that girl is so fast. So fast. The start was very unorganized and narrow. The run was starting on a bike path. The starter guy had us line up by how fast we were going to run and then Pow we were off!

Mile 1 7:24 I was working really hard to reign myself in. I like to start fast! It was a little hard to see all those people pass me, I just kept reminding myself to stick to the plan of 8ish minute miles to start with then kick it in for the end

Mile 2 7:43 Still working really hard to slow it down, but found this a good pace and decided to go with it. The route was fairly flat slightly uphill still.

Mile 3 7:48 Feeling really good still. Grabbed a glass of water at the first water stop. Still being passed by a few guys. But no more girls. Course still fairly flat

Mile 5 7:35 Slight downhill and decide to pick off someone. I pass a girl in a cute orange shirt and never see her again. I remember her, she went flying past me in the 1st mile when I was working hard to keep my pace down. Starting to feel like this is going to be a good race. I break open the GU chomps and have three.

Mile 6 7:59 Another big hill, but it felt good. Getting excited about being nearly halfway done and feeling so good. Picked off another girl and a couple of guys. Finally had some good shade. We were running in the country club area. The shade felt divine. Felt good that everyone I passed was breathing laboriously and I had it under control!

Mile 7 7:22 Mostly all downhill, passed a lot of people. Feeling good and I mean good! Starting to think I could possibly PR

Mile 8 7:51 Back up the hill we just came down, ugh, but I was feeling strong and felt consistent going up. Passed two guys with no shirts on, and one young guy running like an old man.

Mile 9 7:37 More down hill and some flat. Feeling pretty good. Wondering why I always think yay I only have three miles left when I see the 9 mile sign, then realize I really have 4 left. Feeling good. I can see two more girls up ahead. Put my sights on the first one and keep running. I notice my breathing is a little less under control, legs are starting to feel tired. Eat some more chomps.

Mile 10 7:21 Feeling good and cruising down the hill, getting closer to the girl with the red shorts but still have a pretty good gap. Wonder if I will catch her. Pass another guy instead.

Mile 11 7:32 Feeling awesome. I could do this all day. Skipped the last water stop. I still had water in my fuel belt chugged that instead. Red shorts girl walked through the stop and I mentally checked her off the list and cruised on. At this point I know that I can PR if I can maintain about a 7:40ish pace. I want it so bad.

Mile 12 7:44 Hit the wall. I felt like I was cruising, but my garmin told me otherwise. The sun was really beating down, my legs were getting tired and I was going from hot to hotter. Knew I probably was not going to pick off the girl 200 or so yards in front of me so I just tried to maintain and pull inspiration from anywhere I can think off

Mile 13 7:50 As hard as I tried could not lose the wall. Legs were spent from the hills and I was so hot! I wanted to jump in the ditch we were running by. The last two miles were flat and straight. Felt like I could see the finish line coming at me forever. I really wanted the PR so bad, but was starting to think I was not going to get it.4

Mile 13.1 1:03 (7:20 pace) Saw the big clock and knew I could PR if I just sprinted. Didn't really sprint but I did PR! Time was 1:40:56. Old PR 1:41:22. So not by much, but not bad for thinking I was going to have to bag the race earlier this week! I brought my camera but not my memory card, so I don't have any pictures yet. I will post them when I do.

I ended up 3rd female overall and 3rd in my age group, 17/63 for men and women. That's right only 63 people total did the half marathon! So a small one, but I loved the course hills and all except the last two miles when I hit the wall and my body was cooked from the hot sun shining down on me.

I stuck around for awards and had fun visiting with everyone then went and picked up the kids from my husband where he was tending a friends farm and ranch supply store for the day. The kids had a birthday party in town so there was no time for me to drive clear home and back. Also seemed like a waste of gas, so I took them to Subway for lunch and Candytown for dessert. My stomach was not in the mood for candy so it was pretty easy to get out of there for cheap.

Then we headed over to Kohls to find a birthday present for the birthday girl and get some clean clothes for my daughter and a t-shirt for my son. I also awarded my self these awesome shorts. A PR merits new clothes or some kind of reward don't you think?
They are much brighter in real life. I almost had a matching tank. A pretty snappy outfit. But I talked myself out of it. It didn't look that great right up next to my face. The neon yellow was arguing loudly with my hair. Besides I have lots of other shirts that will do just fine.

I did find these shorts and capris on the clearance rack for 80% off! Yay, I was in need of new summer clothes.

And a tank for summer, pretty and sparkly!!

Now that I have survived getting up at 4:30, running a half marathon, shopping with the kids, a 3 year old birthday party, Walmart and a blogpost that seems to be going on forever, I am going to go take a shower and put my feet up.

Looking forward to reading all the race reports from this weekend. God luck to everyone who has races still to do. Thanks for the playlist ideas I got some great songs added to the play list.

6. check the weather forecast again, in hopes that it will be cooler than earlier forecast...

Nope, hasn't changed for the good, maybe gone up a degree or two, but I think this is cooler than it was last year. Still for me this is friggin toasty. A little cloud cover would be nice but looks like we are not going to get that either. I know for a fact that we won't be getting any shade from trees.

Checking one more time... okay I should give up on this one. It is going to be warm. Hydrate hydrate hydrate! The expected high for the day is 93. I know some of you out there are probably thinking this would be great running weather and that I am a wuss, well I am kind of. It hasn't really been that hot here this summer until the last couple weeks and I have been trying to get acclimated. It didn't help that I took the whole last week off to nurse my knee back to health. I am going to quit whining now and go back to being happy that I get to run a half tomorrow and I don't have to sit at home! YAY!

This will be half marathon #3 for me!

Anyone have any great playlist songs they want to suggest? I am planning on not listening to anything for the first three miles or so and then turn it one when I start into the uphill section. Not that there is a whole lot of elevation change, only 250 ish. i just though this would be a good time to kick it on.

Trying to decide if I should take my hand held water bottle and SPI belt or use my fuel belt with the two water bottles on back. I think I will go with the fuel belt I like to have my hands free, although I like my SPI belt better for my energy gels. I wouldn't worry about either, but it is going to be so HOT, I don't want to get dehydrated and last year there were not very many water stations if I remember right.